Bunissima

Today I woke up ready to go. didn’t know where. Decided almost before going out the door: Olanesti.
There were lots of things to see. I thought the most interesting were the people and the things they sell.

Fur scarfs.

Regular scarfs.

A kid was selling peeled green walnuts.

Up there was a monastery. Could not get too far. Enough to see that the nature was a free toilet and that the road was narrowing. Fear of snakes had its final word.

This is a VIP trying to do some organic “architecture” by blending in with the area (read: dodging from the camera and failed miserably).

The tower bar is announcing itself.

And, what a surprise, there it comes, after climbing ten thousand stairs and on some more things to get a photo.

People are barbecuing… you meat eaters!!!

Some people wrote their names or who-knows-what in the water.

People trying not to fall from things they adventuroulsy climbed on.

The VIP, again, is admiring the trees. Apparently I could not get rid of her.

One of the famous springs with sulphur water. Smells bad. Could not get in. Getting on top of it was sufficient.

After a bad pizza, a grilled corn could not be more delicious. And warming too, considering that it was getting freezing cold.

I know I have not been writing for a long time. Well, I’m just saying in case anyone cares, I have been doing quite a lot of things that brought me joy and kept me busy. Whatsoever, what I am going to tell you about is only half a good thing and you’ll see why.
So, there I was, going out to look for some place new and I was staying there on a bench with the newspaper and a pen calling people, precisely in the downtown of the city, the very downtown of the very city that I live in. Unfortunately, the downtown is like 5 times bigger than the entire city so it’s not quite a thrill to be there (I kid, I kid, it’s more like… 10 times bigger, wink, wink). But that day, oh man! There was a thing in the air, apart from all the wind and the sun, there was a new positive energy that normally lacks around here… and so forth. This wonderful thing, as I was struggling with phone calls and wind, was capturing all my attention so I decided I should let my senses guide me and just follow the sounds that were enchanting my ear. And there they were, the Indians. No, really, true native Americans, singing there in the downtown of this godforsakenplace city.

And I had already decided in my subconscious that they deserved a reward for doing such a good job. Their music was wonderful, really well thought, and I was wondering what were they doing singing on the streets when they could be superstars. They were also offering quite a show, dancing and using all those interesting musical instruments.

My joy was even bigger when I saw they were selling CD’s and I immediately asked how much. After a small misunderstanding, I paid some around 10 bucks, getting over the fact that initially I had understood less. I asked the guy with the CD’s where were they from and he said like he did not want to say it that they were from Bolivia. Happy, I went home and played it on and on untill it was getting annoying to keep hearing it. I however questioned a bit the fact that the songs are all from a concert and in one of them they say “Buenas noches Lima, Peru!”
In a few days Romer!can told me that one of the songs from the CD was very famous. And I was shocked. I did not know if that was a mistake of his or if i had been mistaken, or if it’s all a total mistake and these innocent people were making themselves a mistake. So I proceeded to find out the truth from the holy internet and it told me that all the sons belongs to Alborada, a very famous South American band that was all over the internet and Youtube. I did not feel sorry for spending the money in that CD. I would have never known who Alborada is and why these Alborada representatives came to a country so far away to make money off something that does not belong to them.

Then you get two. I wonder if it was a free ride.

Sibiu bus station. This european-like city lodged some gipsies in the main gara, to my surprise. Surprise I say because in my naivety I was expecting this former european cultural capital to have solved its problems of sorts.

The gypsies were feeling free to do whatever, and since no one seemed to be upset, they can brestfeed the babies right there.

Some others were just minding their own business, waiting for the bus to show up.

The kid, having been fed, was then passed to the granma.

They were basically hanging around, hunting with their eyes the credulous prey. I did not seem to qualify for such an honor, even with my easily noticeable camera that was making me look more like a tourist. I guess that was because I passed the test, when asked something in Romanian I answered back politely in the same language. Some others, less lucky, got surrounded by all these women, and their skirts.

The guy they put their claws on did not look Romanian. And if he was Romanian, he must have been very soft. The gypsy ladies were trying to sell him a fake golden ring and they all seemed to have a problem in getting to an agreement. One of them girls was smarter. She just took the money-that he had the brilliant idea to somehow take out- right from his hand and right away replaced it with the glittering tin. And so he was left, eyes gaping in the sun.